Oh Drax, what have you got yourselves into this time?

Cast your minds back.... back into the mists of time........ Or to about 1979, if you're old enough....or actually, the first time you watched a story called The Armageddon Factor. Sadly, not the glorious X-Factor spin-off we were promised in which history's greatest singers and musicians were revived to perform our way out of worldwide apocalypse, but the last story of the Key To Time season. Memorable in right and wrong ways, the pros of the story include the first appearance of Lalla Ward, THE FIRST MENTION OF THE DOCTOR'S (nick)NAME!!! Oh and a cockney friend of the Doctor's called Drax....

DOCTOR WHO FOURTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES REVIEW

5.06: THE TROUBLE WITH DRAX

By Jack Ryan

BEWARE: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

AND I MEAN BIG, BIG SPOILERS!!!!

Drax is one of those characters you cannot hate. At all. You may hate the story but you cannot hate Barry Jackson's intergalactic cockney hustling Time-Lord. And in my view, the fact that Drax has appeared in less than half a dozen stories across all the mediums Doctor Who is actively present in is an absolute crime. And although we now have this delightful release, it is tainted with a slight bit of sadness.... but you soon forget about then once you start laughing at how good this bloody thing is!

Ever since the fateful day at Atrios, Zeos and the Planet of Death, The Doctor, Romana and K-9 have been running randomly all over the cosmos to avoid bumping into an unwanted familiar face. Today, they have failed.... Drax, the cockney, Time-Lord grifter has barged right back into the Doctor's life. And he's brought trouble trebled along with him. Forced by the hand of a powerful business man, The Doctor and Drax travel to Altrazar, a city lost to the mists of time, to retrieve some dangerous secrets. But it soon becomes apparent that Drax and everyone involved have a dangerous secret of their own...

John Dorney. John Freakin' Dorney. Can this man do no wrong? Well if this story is anything to go by, then no. No, he cannot! Dorney has, in the space of this hour, managed to get me hooked, leave me with big silly grin on my face and made me laugh out loud, in public, multiple times, at the same bloody plot twist! If you thought that The Two Masters was the only high point Mr Dorney was capable of last month, then let this prove you gleefully wrong.

Like I said, this release is slightly tainted by the sad fact that, due to his passing back in December 2013, Barry Jackson's dulcet cockney tones are very absent from this story. But don't let that deter you, the cast that have been gathered for this story are nothing short of perfection! As well as Baker, Ward and Leeson, we have John Banks, Hugh Fraiser, Miranda Raison, Ray Brooks and the AMAZING JOHN "BOYCIE SCORBY" CHALLIS, all of whom are directed to acting perfection by the formidable Nicholas Briggs. I would say who they play, but I would be lying....

Sound and music: Jamie Robertson. That is all.

I mean, that is literally the definition of amazing sound and music. Jamie Robertson. Just Jamie Robertson.

If I needed to sum this story up, I'd say, Doctor Who meets intergalactic Hustle. And it is brilliant. Not only brilliant, but perfection! In fact, my only complaint is that they should have done it earlier so that Barry could have made it even more memorable. But even so, not only is it a fantastic story, and a brilliant return for the obscure Time-Lord hustler, but a perfect tribute to Barry Jackson.

VERDICT; 5/5 "Hello, Drax!"  Good to hear you again! ;D

For Barry Jackson (1938-2013)






Also, SPOILER, that title isn't a misspelling! ;)